WILLOUGHBY HILLS, Ohio — If you want to fight a speed camera citation issued by the City of Willoughby Hills, you have to pay a $25 fee.
In a letter to city officials, the Institute for Justice, a national nonprofit law firm, said the fee "violates the rights of drivers and vehicle owners."
The letter also said drivers should be allowed to contest the tickets free of charge.
"In order to go to court and say, 'I didn't do this,' then they have to pay a fee so they are basically presumed guilty unless they forfeit their money to prove their innocence," Institute for Justice Attorney Bobbi Taylor said. "Anytime, there's a paywall behind due process or access to courts, no matter how small, it's unconstitutional."
Taylor sent a similar letter to the Village of Peninsula after learning Stow Municipal Court was charging drivers a $100 fee to fight photo enforcement citations issued by the village's cameras.
The court suspended the $100 fee in December 2023.
RELATED: Judge suspends $100 free to fight Peninsula traffic camera citations
Taylor said Willoughby Municipal Court, which collects the $25 fee from drivers cited in Willoughby Hills, should do the same.
"It would be easy, I think, for Willoughby Hills and the Willoughby Municipal Court to just change the fee structure so that you're really only charged that fee if you're found guilty after a hearing," Taylor said.
Willoughby Municipal Court did not respond to our request for an on-camera interview.
In an email, Christopher Simon, Court Adminstrator/Clerk of Court sent us the following statement:
"The court has received a copy of a letter sent to Willoughby Hills officials related to the City of Willoughby Hills Traffic Photo Enforcement Program. While under review, the Clerk of Courts has paused the motion filing fee for motions related to all traffic camera tickets."
Willoughby Hills Police Chief Matt Naegele said he was unavailable for comment Thursday.
In an email, he wrote that the city has cited approximately 77,000 drivers since the city's speed camera program started in 2024.
Officers target drivers on I-271 and I-90.
Naegele wrote that ODOT data showed hundreds of thousands of drivers speed through the city on those highways each month.
Just in June, Naegele wrote that the cameras cited 1,064 drivers speeding over 100 mph.
